Kauai With Kids: Everything I’d Recommend After Spending a Month There With Four Kids
We recently spent almost a month on Kauai with our four kids, ages 9, 6, 4, and our almost five-month-old baby, and I can confidently say it is one of my favorite places we’ve ever traveled as a family.
And not because we packed our days with excursions.
Actually, the opposite.
Some of our favorite days were the simplest ones: waking up slowly, packing everyone for the beach, swimming for hours, coming home sandy and exhausted, showering everyone off, and going somewhere good for dinner.
Kauai makes it surprisingly easy to slow down.
After being there long enough to get past that feeling of needing to see everything, we figured out what our family actually loved—and what I would recommend to another mom planning a trip with kids.
This isn’t a list of every attraction on the island. It’s what I would actually do again with my own four kids.
First: Don’t Overschedule Kauai
This is my biggest piece of advice.
You do not need an activity planned every day.
I know how tempting it is when you’re flying all the way to Hawaii. You start saving waterfalls, hikes, boat tours, luaus, restaurants and beaches until suddenly you’ve created an itinerary that requires everyone to be dressed and out the door by 7:30 every morning.
I wouldn’t do that here.
Kauai itself is the activity.
Give yourself entire beach days. Let the kids swim until they’re starving. Stop when you see something beautiful. Get a smoothie. Come home for naps.
With four kids, and especially with a baby, that breathing room was one of the things that made the trip so enjoyable.
Our best rhythm was usually one main thing a day, if that.
Spend Time on the North Shore
The North Shore is the part of Kauai that feels most like Kauai to me.
The mountains, rainbows, tropical greenery, little towns and beaches are just unreal.
Hanalei especially became one of those places we could keep going back to without getting tired of it.
It’s easy to grab food, wander around town and then spend hours at the beach without turning the day into a production.
If I were planning a first trip to Kauai with kids, I would absolutely make sure I had plenty of time up north.
Have a Real Hanalei Beach Day
One of my biggest recommendations is also the least complicated:
Go spend the day at Hanalei Bay.
Not for an hour between activities.
Take the beach chairs. Pack snacks and plenty of water. Bring the kids’ boards and sand toys and let yourselves actually stay.
The backdrop alone is insane, green mountains surrounding an enormous bay and it became one of those places where our kids were completely happy just being kids.
Hanalei is also one of the places where I’d happily return again and again instead of constantly looking for a new beach. When you’re there, make sure to grab some fish tacos from Pat’s Taco truck.
Let the Kids Try Surfing
Surf lessons in Hanalei were one of the highlights of our trip.
Our almost 7 year old is a strong swimmer and getting him out on a surfboard in Hawaii was one of those experiences that felt completely worth doing.
This is the kind of excursion I like with kids: it’s an actual experience they’ll remember, rather than something we’re dragging everyone through because it was on an itinerary.
If your kids are old enough, comfortable in the water and interested, I would absolutely look into a lesson.
And I wouldn’t schedule much else that day.
Surf lesson + beach + food = plenty.
Spend a Day on the South Shore
Even though we stayed on the North Shore, I think it’s worth setting aside a day to explore the South Shore.
Start at Poʻipū Beach, where we went hoping to see sea turtles—and did. This is such a fun stop with kids because you get the beautiful beach day, but there’s also a good chance of spotting green sea turtles or Hawaiian monk seals resting along the shoreline.
From there, head to Kauai Coffee Company. This was another easy stop we really enjoyed with the kids. You can walk through the coffee trees, learn a little about how coffee is grown on the island and, of course, sample Kauaʻi-grown coffee. It gives you a completely different glimpse of the island without turning into an all-day excursion.
And if you’re driving through Līhuʻe on your way to or from the South Shore, stop at Hamura Saimin for a meal. This little old-school noodle shop has been around since 1952 and feels like stepping into another era of Kauaʻi. Everyone sits around simple counters eating bowls of saimin—Hawaiʻi’s comforting noodle soup—and it’s casual enough to bring all the kids. Order the saimin, some of the BBQ meat sticks and, if they still have it, a slice of their famous lilikoi chiffon pie.
This combination—Poʻipū Beach, Kauai Coffee and Hamura Saimin—makes such a good family day because you get a little beach, a little island culture and some truly local food without trying to squeeze ten different activities into one day.
(This photo was taken at the Saimin stop right when we got off the plane, haha, exhausted but hungry and excited.)
Do One Luau
We went to Luau Ka Hikina, and I’m glad we included a luau in our trip.
For our family, I wouldn’t fill the trip with lots of big nighttime activities. With a baby and younger kids, evenings can go downhill quickly once everyone is tired.
But one special night felt right.
The kids got to experience the music and dancing and learn more about Polynesian culture, and it was a completely different experience from our beach days.
If your kids aren’t used to staying up late, I would just make the rest of that day very low-key.
This became a theme for us:
Big thing at night = almost nothing during the day.
Eat Ramen at AMA in Hanalei
Okay, this is absolutely going on my list.
We had the most incredible chicken ramen at AMA in Hanalei, and I loved it so much I came home wanting to recreate it.
It was warm, brothy, full of vegetables and exactly the kind of food that sounds unexpected in Hawaii until you’ve spent a rainy North Shore day outside.
I made a version at home and my family loved it! Our recipe coming soon!
This is also one of my favorite things about traveling: bringing little pieces of a trip home through food.
Months later, I can make that ramen in our kitchen in Texas and immediately think of Kauai.
Let Food Be Part of the Experience
We eat pretty simply and healthfully at home, and I don’t completely abandon that when we travel.
But I also don’t want food rules to keep our kids from actually experiencing a place.
So in Kauaʻi, I wanted both.
Fresh fruit. Fish. Smoothies. Good dinners. Plenty of protein and real food.
And also shave ice, burgers, treats and the things that are part of being in Hawaiʻi.
I’ve found that when we keep plenty of nourishing food around throughout the day, there’s a lot less pressure around every individual thing the kids eat. We can enjoy the fun stuff without making it feel like a big deal.
This is especially true on beach days, when somehow everyone becomes ravenously hungry at exactly the same moment.
And that is when Bubba’s Burgers tastes absolutely amazing.
Also, my favorite white shirt is permanently marked with Bubba’s burger grease.
Worth it.
Always bring more snacks than you think your children could possibly consume.
They will prove you wrong.
And bring extra for yourself too, especially if you’re breastfeeding on the beach like I was. 😂
Don’t Try to Drive the Entire Island Every Day
Kauaʻi isn’t a huge island, but driving back and forth between the North and South Shores with four kids can make a day feel much longer than it looks on Google Maps.
I would group things geographically, but don’t overlook all the little areas in between.
If you’re doing Hanalei, enjoy Hanalei.
If you’re heading south, make that your South Shore day and do Poʻipū Beach + Kauai Coffee.
And then leave room for the middle of the island too, because some of our favorite stops were there.
We loved ʻAnini Beach for snorkeling, and the Kīlauea area is such an easy place to wander around, grab something to eat and slow down for a bit.
One of my absolute favorite smoothie stops is Kalalea Juice Hale in Anahola. It’s this tiny roadside juice shack surrounded by all that lush Kauaʻi green, with smoothies, açaí bowls, fresh juices and coconuts. It’s exactly the kind of little place I love finding when we travel.
And on the East Side, Lydgate Beach was so cool for the kids. There are protected swimming areas surrounded by huge rocks, and the waves crash dramatically against the outside. The water was calm for the kids and such a fun swimming spot with an awesome wooden playground right beside.
Some of those smaller stops ended up being our favorites.
You really don’t need to see three different sides of Kauaʻi in one day.
Pick an area. Stay awhile. Let the kids swim. Get a smoothie. Head home when everyone is done.
It makes everything feel much calmer.
And calmer vacations are better vacations when you have four children.
This photo was taken at ‘Anini Beach.
Build in Days With Absolutely Nothing Planned
Some of my favorite memories from this trip aren’t attractions.
They’re watching the kids play in the ocean.
Taking the baby down to the beach.
Seeing the boys get better in the water.
Eating dinner together after everyone had spent the entire day outside.
Watching our kids settle into island life enough that it stopped feeling like a vacation itinerary and just became our routine for a little while.
If you have enough time in Kauai, protect some of that.
Don’t fill every blank space.
Kauai With a Baby Is Very Doable
We weren’t trying to drag him through theme parks or indoor attractions all day. He could nurse, nap, be carried and hang out with us while his siblings played.
A few things made it much easier:
- A baby carrier we actually liked wearing
- Plenty of shade at the beach
- A loose schedule
- Not planning our days around perfect naps
- Coming home when everyone had clearly had enough
- Accepting that one parent sometimes sits something out with the baby
That last one would have been harder for me a few years ago. But now, with my fourth baby, I found myself genuinely enjoying those slower moments under the umbrella, holding him, nursing him and watching the bigger kids splash their dad in the water.
There’s something about knowing how quickly this stage passes that changes your perspective. It’s a season, and a very short one.
Instead of feeling like I was missing out, I felt really grateful to be right where I was with him.
We don’t all have to experience every single minute of every single thing.
What I Would Pack Again for Kauai With Kids
These are the things that actually mattered:
Rash guards. Our kids were in the water constantly. I especially loved having rash guards for that last hour or two of a long beach day when everyone had already gotten plenty of sun.
Sunglasses. Bring them for the kids too! The sun reflecting off the water and bright sand is so intense, and even little eyes can get irritated after a full day at the beach.
Good non-toxic sunscreen. My boys tan really easily and by our last week on the island they needed less sunscreen than they did at the beginning, but my fair-skinned girl and I definitely still needed sunscreen. 😂
Sun hats for the little ones. Especially for the baby.
A baby carrier. This was one of my most-used things on the trip, especially for places where bringing a stroller is annoying or just impossible.
Reusable water bottles + electrolytes. Everyone drinks more when you’re outside in the sun all day, and I was especially glad we had electrolytes with us.
A few familiar snacks. Thank goodness Kauai has Costco and now Target! We stocked up after we arrived, but I still like traveling with a few foods I know my little kids will eat. Sometimes you just need something familiar in the beach bag.
Cover-ups or towel cover-ups for the little ones. Kauai can be warm and sunny one minute and suddenly breezy or rainy the next, especially on the North Shore. Something easy to throw over a wet swimsuit came in handy constantly.
And honestly? You need less clothing than you think.
We lived in swimsuits.
If We Only Had One Week in Kauai With Kids
After having the luxury of almost a month there, I think I’d keep a one-week trip surprisingly simple.
Something like:
Day 1: Arrive, groceries, settle in, early bedtime
Day 2: Hanalei + beach
Day 3: Beach + surf lesson
Day 4: Anini or Lydgate Beach + completely open afternoon
Day 5: South Shore — Kauai Coffee + Poʻipū
Day 6: Slow morning + smoothie stop + luau that evening
Day 7: Go back to everyone’s favorite beach
I especially loved having a couple of beaches like Anini and Lydgate in the mix with little kids. They both gave us a different kind of beach day—less about doing something and more about letting the kids swim, play and stay awhile.
But I still wouldn’t try to squeeze everything in.
Not seven excursions.
Not three restaurant reservations a day.
I’d rather leave Kauai feeling like our family lived there for a week than feeling like we successfully completed Kauai.
This photo is at ‘Anini Beach.
A Few Things I’d Know Before Going
Kauai is one of those places where a little planning matters—but you also want room to be spontaneous.
If Hāʻena State Park or Kēʻē Beach is on your itinerary, non-Hawaiʻi residents currently need advance reservations. Reservations open 30 days ahead, and the limited parking reservations can sell out extremely quickly.
I would also check beach and weather conditions every morning rather than deciding your entire week’s beach schedule before you arrive.
And I’d keep at least a couple of days flexible enough to move things around.
Would I Take Four Kids to Kauai Again?
In a heartbeat.
There are trips that are amazing because of everything you do.
Kauai was amazing because of how we lived while we were there.
We were outside constantly. The kids swam almost every day. We ate good food. We slowed down. We explored enough to make it feel adventurous without feeling like we were constantly rushing everyone out the door.
And after almost a month, I still wasn’t truly ready to leave.
If you’re considering Kauai with kids, especially if the thought of traveling that far with little ones feels overwhelming, I would do it.
Just don’t try to do all of Kauai.
Pick a few beautiful things.
And then go to the beach.
